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They have managed to stabilize the great fire in the Corbieres Massif in the south of France

The fire, which broke out last Tuesday and killed one person, a woman who refused to leave her home under siege by flames, is the most serious that France has suffered since 1949.

Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse (France), 07/08/2025.- A firefighting vehicle is deployed to tackle a brush fire as a wildfire continues to spread in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, Aude department, southern France, 07 August 2025. Some 16,000 hectares have been burned so far and at least one person died in one of the biggest wildfires in France since 1949. (incendio forestal, Francia) EFE/EPA/PHILIPPE MAGONI
18:00 - 20:00
Fire in the south of France. Photo: EFE

The large declared fire in the south of France, which has already burned 16,000 hectares in the Corbieres Massif, has been stabilised but has not yet been extinguished after two days of intense fighting against the flames , the authorities reported today.

The fire, which broke out last Tuesday, is the most serious that France has suffered since 1949. The fire has left one dead, a woman who refused to leave her home besieged by flames.

The Aude Prefect Department has stated in a statement that the fire brigade's work will be maintained in the coming days to prevent the fire from rekindling.

At the same time, it has specifiedthat for thetime being most of the evacuated population will not be able to return to their homes, except in cases where the local authorities permit it.

The same applies to roads in the region, many of which are cut off by electric cables.

The fire caused more than 2,000 firefighters, 600 vehicles and 20 air assetsto be deployed in , including Army helicopters.

In addition to one deceased person (a 70-year-old woman who refused to vacate her home in Saint Laurent de la Cabreriss on Tuesday night), two seriously injured persons are still in hospital.

Among the firefighters are 11 wounded, and the regional subprefect, Remi Recio, has specified that there are no more missing persons.

With regard to the investigation into the origin and possible perpetrator of the fire, Recio has confirmed that it began along a secondary road and that the matter is in the hands of the Public Prosecutor's Office.

The 16,000 acres that have burned since Tuesday in the Corbieres Massif is equivalent to the one that burned all over France in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024, and twice the one that burned in 2023.

Until now, the largest octogonal fire in the country had burnedabout 50,000 hectares of pine trees south of Bordeaux in 1949, killing 82 people.

 

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